In office premises there are typically different electronic devices which communicate with one another. Communication between the devices, e.g., in telephone and data network solutions, is usually implemented by using cables, whereby every time a new device is connected to the network, a new cable has to be drawn and new connectors have to be installed. Therefore, different wireless local area networks (Wireless LAN) have been developed. Wireless local area networks can be based on infrared or radio transmission so that the network for the radio transmission, for instance, is a short range radio network for computer systems based on radio links between the computers through which the computers can be connected to the network. In this solution the radio links can be used to transfer data fast, usually faster than in telephone networks. Typically, data can be transmitted even as far as 800 m. In this way, the size of the radio cell formed around each terminal is typically 50-800 meters in radius.
One example of such a wireless local area network with a decentralized control is presented in FIG. 1. The figure presents cells C1-C6, all of which comprise a wireless transceiver TR1-TR6 (e.g., a radio transceiver) and data terminal D1-D6, such as a computer connected thereto, each one forming one station of the network. Data terminal D1 functions as a central computer with which the other data terminals D2-D6 communicate. Data terminals D1-D6 thus function as terminals of the network. Data terminals D1-D6 can also communicate with an external (fixed) network, e.g., through an ATM-, ISDN- or corresponding transmission link, as terminal D6 does in FIG. 1.
One problem in such a wireless local area network comprising a decentralized control is that there is no controlled transmission between the different transceivers of different cells C1-C6. In such a network, central computer D1 communicates with all the data terminals D2-D6 wirelessly from transceiver TR1 to transceiver TR2-TR6 of each data terminal. In contrast, all the data terminals D2-D6 cannot hear one another--at least if the network is large. In this case, situations may arise where data is transmitted from several data terminals, e.g., from data terminals D2 and D3 to central computer D1 simultaneously, whereby central computer D1 is not capable of receiving either one of the transmissions. This is a problem with systems with decentralized control in which the transmission between different transceivers is not controlled centrally to be effected at different times and/or on different frequencies.